Like falling rain
by ThreeMagpies
Summary: A Revolution fic (No blackout Au): Sebastian (Bass) Monroe/Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson; Charloe. Charlie is an aspiring poet and meets the man of her dreams, who also happens to be her favourite author, at the Edinburgh book festival. A whirlwind, romantic few days later she discovers something about him that sends her running home in despair…


**Like falling rain…**

A Revolution fic (No blackout Au): Sebastian (Bass) Monroe/Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson; Charloe. Charlie is an aspiring poet and meets the man of her dreams, who also happens to be her favourite author, at the Edinburgh book festival. A whirlwind, romantic few days later she discovers something about him that sends her flying home in despair…

Rating M

**Authors note:** Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy (it'll be ok at the end, really)! Cheers, Magpie

**Like falling rain**

Charlie boarded the plane at Heathrow, half asleep... Only just making it, the last ticket available, the last to board after a frantic dash from the apartment, the cabbie threading his way easily through the early morning traffic with the faith of saints and long practice… She, sitting in the back; fighting back tears all the way, trying to look normal… just another slim, pretty girl behind dark glasses; cover-up beanie hiding her long honey blond hair, in rock chick tee, French Connection starry night scarf, black tights and worn moto boots, typical student type, just another new world girl... going home…nothing wrong, really…

No lipstick…he'd kissed it all off last night and she hadn't replaced it. She licked her lips, and imagined the taste of him still there, his lips, his skin, his cock… She could still smell him, his aftershave mingling with her perfume… her body still aching for him, aftershocks still tingling from her clit to the lump in her throat…

The economy seats were cramped as usual: flight full, and she got herself sorted in her seat, end of the row thank God… carryon in the overhead locker… a book of poems by another new writer, heard and loved at the Edinburgh Fringe, ready to read in the long hours… Words to cry by….

She lifted a hand to rub the side of her nose… and he was there too; her fingers held traces of his scent… skin deep, flesh deep memories of rubbing, stroking, feeling him underneath, on top, around, surrounding her in a haze of silky sliding, of warm sensation, hard male flesh…She took a shaky breath…shit…she needed to get it together, forget about him… 'Huhuh…' the almost sob tore its way out of her throat and the older woman in the next seat looked sideways at her, smiling knowingly, sympathetically…

'I'm sure he's not worth it, dear…'

Charlie looked away from her with a polite, nothing smile, not wanting to talk, the well-meaning sympathy only making it worse…. knowing that everything about her gave her away… knowing that it was written all over her face, her body still buzzing it aloud… She hadn't said goodbye, she hadn't been able to once she realized… she'd just left… She had to forget about him… and she could never forget about him…

…

Later… her dreams were full of him too, and she kept waking up, sure that she was moaning and calling his name aloud…but everyone around her was in his or her own world of music, movie or game… or were asleep in their travel blankets and booties… eye-pads, ear pads on… only the cabin crew moved around, just checking in the dark hours…no one paying attention…no one noticing that she was in pieces…

She checked the GPS on the screen in the back of the seat in front of her… They were over the ocean now; deep, deep water that would cover them if they fell… she let the thoughts fly over her, not fear exactly, she wasn't afraid of them falling… it was the realization of just how high and fast they were actually going hitting her as a sudden, absurdly concrete fact… it was flying, this huge metal bird, flying higher than any other creature possibly could and there were all these people, including her, inside… all dreaming or watching dreams…and her, without him…

She wondered what he was doing now, what he did when he woke up and found her gone… No note, no trace except the scent of her, on him; and she felt the tears return again… Would he find it as hard to forget her? She sighed and lay back… she was aching now, cramped and sad, wanting the flight to be over, wanting to get back to the familiar, the safe ordinary world… a world without a love that couldn't happen… an empty world… she ran through it all again, in her mind, although each time the ending was the same…

…

Edinburgh, the book festival… The city had put on some lovely August weather, the castle rising like some proud, gaudy dinosaur from the ancient ramparts of the old city. Princes Park was gleaming and thronged with festival goers and ordinary people, rushing to the next event or just the business of the day… The Festival grounds were beautiful, the grass green, the smell of flowers, expensive perfume and new books everywhere…

Like yesterday she had been given one of the first spots of the day, not popular with presenters as people were still arriving, jet lagged or coffee jagged after a late night… and the morning crowd was still building up as she got started, but as a new writer and relatively unknown she hadn't expected prime gigs. So she was enjoying herself anyway; the first poem was from her new book and was one of her favorite pieces, an exploration of mood and discovery written during her first trip to Paris and she loved reading it aloud…she was even wearing a dress she'd bought in Paris, a simple black wrap that showed off her slim figure, and with tights and ballet flats and her hair in a high chignon she felt very chic, very bohemian…

Her audience was sitting quietly, attentive, most of them the usual sort of people who went to literary events… There was a generous smattering of young, university types, confident in their insular world and supportive peer groups, lounging like thin crows in the back rows, there was a small selection of expensively dressed society ladies and equally well turned out men – towards the front of course… a few curious everyday people in casual, travelers clothes, wearing sensible shoes with back packs and the eveready umbrellas… Earnest scholars, library buyers and fellow authors, much less self-consciously dressed although self-evidently literary – their festival bags and freebies hanging from Pashmina draped or suited shoulders or held under tweed armpits along with the morning paper; and then the organizers and volunteers, strutting, looking frazzled but energized by the intent, hushed atmosphere inside the event Marquees, proud of their name badges, fingering them every now and then to make sure everyone noticed that they were part of all of this…

She was caught up in the poem… Her first sight of the Louvre… the Louvre… sweeping through her again in a torrent of memory of sun bright sand and surface in the Place de la Concorde, the long, long walk through the avenues of trees and laughing crowds in the Tuileries, the sunbathers, early, crisp champagne at the café in the gardens… the Pyramid… when she felt the change in the audience… ripples of expectation and excitement and she looked up from her page to a Mexican wave of heads turning to the back of the marquee…

Then she saw him; of course she did… His tall, dark blond, neat bearded, muscled, and beautiful self clad in casual Armani, unmistakable from book covers, tv and social media sites… She felt her throat catch on the line she was reading… the words caught like tipping stones at the edge of a cliff… Then he looked over and above the adoring heads turned his way and for a moment his eyes met hers in a torrent of swimming, bottomless blue apology… She found herself lost, his gaze holding hers, wondering why he was apologizing to her… hoping her tongue wasn't hanging out, hoping her hero worship wasn't as bloody obvious as the fact that she had lost her place… He was one of the gods; he was James King… Every single one of his action, thriller, romance, novels was on her shelf – hard-back copies of course, guilty pleasures that she could pick up, hold, devour time after time…

She tore her eyes away from his; from him…took a deep breath, cleared her throat and started again, back where she left off, she was almost sure… although she didn't think the audience would notice a thing, not with him…him… sitting at the back, sitting down to listen to her… Her stomach tightened and she felt an almost sexual thrill… he was listening to her…

Charlie put her heart and soul into every word…every phrase, every turn of a sentence, every pause… She wanted to let him, them, know just how much this all meant to her… but when she looked up at the end of the poem, hearing the polite and impersonal but encouraging applause… He had gone - and her heart skipped and tripped over itself with disappointment…

She pulled herself together and finished her set… People were very kind; they had settled back after the brief excitement, had listened carefully and applauded each piece generously… She even sold some copies of her book, signing them carefully with a different salutation to each purchaser, smiling and saying polite things about the weather and the city and answering questions about her accent - the strange similarities between the American and Scots… She told herself not to be stupid, not to read more into a casual glance than was there… He was famous; people fell over themselves to be noticed by him… and she was flattered that he'd bothered to walk into her presentation at all…

Once everyone had gone and volunteers were getting the Marquee ready for the next presenter she gathered up her things, signed them out and wandered into the bright midday Edinburgh sunshine looking for a coffee, following her nose, enjoying the atmosphere and the tall rows of pale stone buildings, the hanging baskets bright with blossoms… That had been her last reading and she was free now – and she was more than ready for a break from the festival. It had been wonderful but she'd had enough for a while, she wanted to be in a different space so she walked back to the Starbucks opposite Princes Park for a coffee and a slice of banana bread; the view of the castle was amazing through the gorgeous bay windows on the second floor and she could just sit and enjoy the view for a while…

As she took her coffee and the deliciously naughty banana bread - hot with maple syrup and butter over to a table by the window, she smiled in delight… She was so lucky to be here, her parents had given her the money for the fare (amazing that they'd spoken enough to each other to do it…) and she'd managed to get a great discount at the Hilton, just walking distance from the castle and the festival… The excitement of the fringe was making the city sing and dance and each night she'd found heaps of music and theatre events close by. People were welcoming and friendly but she was way too anxious and keyed up about doing a good job with her readings to take up any of the offers she'd had from local guys – and girls if she'd wanted to swing that way… There had been a couple of performers she'd seen at the fringe that she'd really liked and now she had the time…

Her thoughts floated musingly around one of them in particular, a fire dancer from one of the pacific islands… He had made her head spin and her belly tighten with his dark, dark eyes, full lips and tall, strong, incredibly flexible body… His eyes had glittered in the light of the flaming torches that he tossed around like they were nothing and he'd walked over to her smiling after his performance, had given her a card that said his name was Jason and asked if she wanted to have a drink later… she smiled to herself…maybe she'd go back and take him up on that…

She only had one more night in Edinburgh... Then it was off to London for two nights and after that it was back to Chicago, back to family and all that went with it… like having parents who didn't talk much to each other at home but who worked together for a government agency making weapons that sounded like they belonged on Eureka… and an Uncle who ran a bar and got drunk a lot because he couldn't be with her mom (and they thought she didn't know) who'd been in the Marines until he'd been injured – saved by his best friend, who he hadn't talked to since for some reason and who'd moved away, overseas somewhere… And her brother… her brother who was only alive because of a deal her folks had made to keep on making their weird stuff in return for special medical help for Danny… Family - you didn't choose them, but you loved them anyway… she sighed…

She had finished her coffee and was staring dreamily out of the window at the castle… the last spoonful of banana bread waiting on the plate…

'Hi… Charlotte? Charlotte Matheson?'

Charlie jerked awake, the edge of her hand sending her spoon spinning, clattering onto the floor, along with the remains of the banana bread… shit…'I'm sorry, what?' she turned around and looked up and felt the blood leave her face, drop to her toes and race back… She swallowed, not able to say a thing…

James King bent down to pick up the spoon, collecting a serviette on the way and scooping the banana bread up at the same time… placing all of them back on her plate… 'I'm sorry I startled you, Charlotte, can I buy you something else to make up for it…?' his voice was low and warm, with a hint of a laugh…he was looking at her with those wonderful blue eyes, concern as well as amusement gleaming in them…

And damn it, his voice was as gorgeous as he was… Charlie felt her cheeks fire up…'It's ok… really' she stammered, shit, she hated women who stammered, especially at men…she took a deep breath and cleared her throat…'I mean, I'd finished…but thank you anyway…'

He pulled out one of the other chairs at the table 'Would you mind if I joined you then…?'

She shook her head, was he joking…? 'No… it's fine, please, sit down…'

He sat…and almost immediately one of the Starbucks female staff brought a long black - of course - over to the table and set it down in front of him with a smile that showed off her lovely teeth…the pose also displaying the cleft between her equally lovely breasts, framed nicely by the open buttons of her uniform…

Charlie wondered if her sudden urge to wipe that smile off the pretty face was as obvious as it felt because the girl took one look at her and retreated, taking the smile and her perky breasts back to the safety of the counter…

Charlie smiled brightly…'Did you enjoy the festival, Mr. King?'

He grinned, his brows rising a little…'James please, Mr King makes me feel old…'

She felt her smile widen, she really wasn't going to rise to that one, but even though she wasn't usually that easily susceptible to charming men, she could feel any resistance she might have had start to crumble into a mushy pile next the banana bread on her plate with the reality of, well, him…'Ok, James…' she pulled herself together… 'Did you enjoy the festival then?'

He took a sip of his coffee, grimaced and reached for the sugar…'I liked parts of it, it's a bit hard for me to listen without things getting a bit… well, you know…' he tasted the coffee again and smiled….'I love it that people like my work and I love making money from it, but the fame bit gets a bit wearing after a while'

She understood that, if what happened this morning happened every time he tried to sit in an audience, then she could see it getting a bit thin…

He put his cup down…'I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your work Charlotte'…he grinned again and her resistance got even mushier…'I had to go round the side of the tent into the green room at your show so that my… problem… wouldn't disturb you, but I loved your poems, especially the one about Paris… you put me right back there…'

Ok, she was totally smitten now…

He leaned forward and stage whispered 'and I followed you here because I wanted to buy your book and you'd taken all the copies away from the bookshop at the festival' he shrugged… 'So here I am'

'You want to buy my book…?'

'I'd offer to swap you for one of mine but I don't have any with me at the moment…'

'I've got all of yours anyway…' damn that slipped out… way to go Charlie, now he thinks you're a rabid fan… but an absolutely delighted smile lit his face and she was so a gone girl…

'Have you really?' he laughed then and his eyes crinkled really nicely at the corners…'I thought you'd be more into the classics and literary poetry'

'I love them too…but you write such great stories' she sat up straight…'like the one where you, Stu and Nora are trapped in that old labyrinth beneath Petra and you have to decode an ancient Greek map to get out, and you're being followed by this mad collector because he thinks you've found a hoard of treasure from Alexandria…' her eyes sparkled, her face animated… 'I love that one…and then there's the one with the blackout… where everyone has to do things without electricity, and you and Stu put together a militia to try to help people and Nora's a demolition expert…' she sighed…'I'd love to write like that…'

He grinned again…and nodded…'I have a lot of fun writing…and I'm really glad you like my books…' he sat back…'Charlotte, this is fast I know, but would you like to go to dinner with me? There's a really good Italian restaurant just down the road' he lifted his left hand with its bare ring finger… 'I'm unattached, and I'd honestly love to talk to you some more…' his eyes met hers and she lost herself (totally lost herself…) in them again…

Any half formed thoughts of re-visiting Jason the fire dancer went floating down the river and disappeared over the horizon… James was a bit older than she was and she knew he had been married some years ago from his bio, and she also knew that his wife had died having their baby, which was awful… But she wasn't stupid or naïve - and he was fascinating… She didn't care if he was just trying to seduce her for a night either, because she fully intended to seduce him for as long as she could… She smiled 'I'd love to, James… I'd like to go back to my hotel to get changed though…'

He nodded…his eyes intent now... straying to her lips, his fingers playing round the edge of his coffee cup as though they couldn't stay still… 'You look lovely just the way you are, but…where are you staying?'

She pointed out the window…'Just over there, at the Hilton' she licked her lips and his eyes strayed there again… she felt her belly clench with anticipation…'would you like to walk with me…?'

His lips curved 'I'd like that very much, Charlotte…' he lifted the cup to his lips and swallowed, keeping his eyes on hers, his steady blue gaze sending little warm currents racing up and down her spine…

By the time they got out to the street he had taken her hand, he was so much taller than her that in her flats she was too short for him to slide his arm round her waist, luckily she had some heels back at the hotel that she'd been dying to wear out that would take care of that little problem…

His thumb was stroking little circles over her palm and the inside of her wrist and every now and then he'd squeeze her hand in his big one, just hard enough to give her an idea of how strong he was, her breath catching in her throat each time he did it, and each time she did that, he'd speed them up just a little… By the time they got to the foyer of the hotel, she was pressed up against him as they walked, both of them tense, neither speaking, the tension between them thickening like the air before a storm until all Charlie wanted was to be somewhere where she could get him naked without getting them both arrested…

Her room was on the fourth floor so they waited for the lift… Charlie in front, James just behind her, his chest a solid, hard warmth behind her, his breath hot on the back of her neck, making her shiver with needing more…one hand holding hers from behind, the fingers of his other hand brushing softly down that side of her neck, down over her shoulder and down her arm… She pressed back against the hard muscled wall of him and found herself held tightly, his lips against her cheek…

'If the lift doesn't come soon Charlotte, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble with the concierge…' his whisper rustled the tendrils of hair around her ear and she shivered again…

She chuckled….'Me too…' then she rubbed herself deliberately over the front of him, feeling the hard ridge of his cock against the small of her back…loving the feel of his sharply indrawn breath…

He pressed his lips against the side of her neck and nibbled with his teeth… sucking oh so gently, but just hard enough to make her gasp and moisture pool between her legs… She leaned back so that he could reach more of her, closing her eyes…

There was a cough in front of them and Charlie opened her eyes with a start… there was an older man, tall, thin and white bearded, in tweed cap, suit and sturdy walking shoes standing in the cavity of the mirrored lift, holding the doors open, his eyes twinkling down at her… 'Do you need the lift?'

Charlie felt her cheeks flame…but she couldn't stop grinning… 'Yes, please…'

The man smiled back…'It's nice to see young people enjoying life…' he stepped out of the lift and made a sweeping gesture with his hand…'There, it's all yours…'

James laughed and reached forward to hold the doors…'Thank you…'

As soon as the doors shushed closed Charlie turned into his arms and his lips found hers… Warm and frantic kisses, tongues mingling, hot breath and soft skin brushing against the scruff of his beard… moustache tickling a little and adding more sensation to the kiss... the fabric of his jacket smooth under her searching fingers, hard flesh under the silk of his shirt… Tie, a nuisance… she pulled it open to reach the buttons of his shirt…

'Charlotte…?'

Damn…she looked up into his blue, pupil blown black, laughing eyes… his breath coming fast, hers the same… 'What is it?'

He laughed out loud… then bent down to press a gentle kiss on her already swollen lips…'what floor are we going to?'

Oh... she thought about that…shit…what was it? Then she remembered…'Fourth floor, room 43…'

James reached out a long arm and pressed the floor number on the keypad…then it was back to the kissing until they tumbled out of the lift, laughing at the disapproving look on the face of a woman who tut tutted as she took their place in the lift…

The corridor from the lift to her room seemed to have grown longer…the numbers taking forever to get to hers… She and James stopping every few steps to kiss again, hungry hands stroking, reaching, Charlie was in a daze of wanting, a delirium of impossible dreams come true… She felt James lifting her up into his arms so he could carry her the rest of the way, her arms around his neck, her lips on his…. Laughingly stopping him from looking at the numbers, her hands framing his face, nearly making him drop her… his eyes darting and lighting up when, finally, there it was… number 43…

He let her down and she opened her bag to find her room key… her hand was shaking as she tried to put the card in the slot…and he leaned around her, bracing her hand with his…

'Are you still ok with this, Charlotte…' his voice was low, gentle…

She turned and looked up at him; taking a breath, breathing him in… Tonight he'd be hers, but she wasn't a fool and she didn't care about anything else or what would happen after, she'd take tonight and be happy…'Oh yes…'

Inside the room he took his jacket off and hung it up while she drew the curtains on the view over the Park and the busy city… glad she'd tidied things up a little this morning, and that housekeeping had done their magic on the queen sized bed, although she hadn't disturbed it much…

Suddenly shy, Charlie stood at the foot of the bed…not quite knowing what to do next now that she was here, and he was here, it seemed a bit clinical just to start undressing…

James smiled and walked towards her…'do you want to see what's in the bar fridge?'

She nodded… her eyes taking him in, not sure whether to really believe this…

He came closer and took her hands…bringing them up to his lips, kissing the fingertips…'You are a lovely, talented woman Charlotte…and I'm so glad to have met you…'

And just like that she was ok again… she took in a deep breath, moved a step closer and grinned up at him…'Me too…' her head tilted and mischief narrowed her eyes…'do you really want to see what's in the bar fridge…?'

His eyes seemed to light up, electric blue…. And a little smile tightened the corner of his mouth and he shook his head slowly…'No…not yet… I'd much, much rather do something else first…'

Charlie held his eyes with hers 'Me too…' and slid her hands down… sliding the silken knot of his tie open and pulling it until it fell in light, feathery, slate colored ripples into her hands, she gathered it together and threw it onto the tv cabinet… then turned her attention to his shirt buttons...undoing them one by one… her tongue teasing her bottom lip - and him - as she spread the shirt out over the rise and fall of his beautifully muscled chest with each button… kissing each exposed inch of golden flesh as it came into view…his breath getting faster with each button … She bent gracefully over to undo the last one before his belt buckle, kissing the taut skin of his belly, moving her lips around his belly button… her tongue playing with the little indentation…

He took a sharp breath in and suddenly she was in the air, her legs swinging around his waist…his arms hard around her, holding her up and he was kissing her with a sharp, hungry, determined passion that sent her senses reeling again… and then she was on the bed, him lying beside her, her arms held above her head while he kissed and nibbled his way from her lips, down her neck, over her collar bones down to the valley between her breasts…his scruff leaving little curling trails of sensation behind his lips… He ran a hand down to her waist, searching for the tie to her dress… finding it, his clever fingers undoing it as if by magic… opening the dress and exposing her torso, her little black bra stark against her pale flesh, the globes of her breasts heaving with her breath…her waist defined by the opaque black of her tights…

He looked down at her, his eyes burning blue, glazed and so intense she felt them like search beams… searching her out…stripping her of every other thought but him…he brought his fingers round and ran them under her bra strap, taking it and the sleeve of her dress down over her shoulder, the breast on that side left bare, the nipple pink and rounded… he smiled and leaned down, licking then blowing gently, watching as the little bud puckered in response…

She caught her breath… wanting more…

He looked down at her, a little smile at the corner of his mouth...'what shall I take off you next Charlotte…?' he kicked off his shoes and she heard them thud to the floor at the end of the bed…then he ran his hand down over her breast, just grazing his palm over her nipple, making it pucker again, moving down over the flesh of her belly to the waistband of her tights… he frowned a little… 'These I think…' his eyes met hers again, a flash of blue… and he nodded… 'Oh yeah… these are definitely in the way…' he moved down the bed, gripped the band of her tights and rolled them down, carefully leaving her little cotton panties in place… black of course…to match the bra, he grinned up at her 'I'm sensing a theme here…'

She grinned back…'I wanted to feel French and I like black…'

He kept rolling the tights down…over her knees, down to her ankles…'it's nice against your skin… but I'd love to see you in blue lace…to match your eyes…'

'Lace?' she'd never owned lace…the wrap dress was about as girly as she usually got…and the chignon had taken her hours of practice at home in front of the mirror…

He pressed kisses along the skin of her belly; below her belly button and just above the band of her panties as he eased off her shoes and the rest of the tights, dropping them over the end of the bed… Then he took his shirt off and she gasped, he was perfect, just perfect… He leaned over her again… his hands on either side of her waist…

She ran a hand up and over his six pack to his pecs and hard rounded shoulder… 'Wow…'

He laughed, low in his throat…'I spend a lot of time in the gym… I write as I pedal, well, I dictate anyway… it helps me think…'

She was impressed…'maybe I'll try that…'

He bent down and kissed her lips, then her breast again, her belly button and each hip… 'You don't need to… you're gorgeous'

She brought her hand back and lowered the strap and the sleeve of her dress down over her shoulder, leaving it as bare as the other side…then she twisted round so that he could reach the back…'dress next…?'

He chuckled…'oh yeah…' he slid the dress down, her wrists caught for a moment in the bunched up fabric… she heard his breath catch….'God you're beautiful…' then he pulled it down over her hands and off, … 'stay there a minute…' and she felt his hands on her hair, long fingers feeling for the hair pins… drawing them out one by one, putting them on the bedside table, she felt her hair come loose as his fingers stroked through the long strands, easing them down… He was silent for a long moment and she almost turned to see what was wrong, then his hands went to her bra catch, undoing it in a quick twist…

She turned back around, holding the bra where it was… gazing up at him… there was a strange look in his eyes - almost sadness? Regret? 'What is it James?'

'I.. you're very lovely, Charlotte, I…'

She smiled…'It's ok…' she saw the tension round his mouth and she wanted to ease it away….'let's just enjoy tonight, I don't expect... I mean… I know this is just for now…' she reached a hand up and traced around his jaw, running her hands gently down through his scruff…'I'm leaving for London tomorrow anyway…'

He nodded…let out a long breath… and then he was lying beside her and kissing her again, his lips and tongue hot and hard, his breath mingling with hers… his hands running up her arms, stretching her body out under his… skin hot and smooth and delicious against her… He slid a hand down under her panties... his fingers big and slightly rough on the smooth skin of her mound…finding the little strip of hair that framed her slit - laughing a little against her lips…

She laughed too….'I haven't got up the nerve to do the full brazilian yet….'

He pulled gently on the little curls…'I like it… and I don't know that I'd want hot wax that close to me either…' he slipped the panties down and off… letting them fall off the end of the bed to join everything else… Then he pulled back a little, watching her face as he ran his fingers down, over her clit and into the hot wetness below… smiling as she gasped; her hips lifting to get more of him…. He kept watching, his eyes almost glowingly intense as he played with her clit…his fingers sliding up and down over the little ridge of flesh, then slipping one finger deep inside her, then back out…

Charlie gasped, her belly rising and falling with his fingers…her thighs gripping his arm between them as she got nearer, his fingers plunging inside her and she could feel how very, very wet she was…

He laughed again… then bent over, kissed her lips then kissed his way down until his tongue slipped between her lower lips, to her clit - setting her on fire, his hands roving down over her thighs, the strong fingers kneading the muscles of her legs, her hands finding the skin of his back, her nails digging into the hard flesh as he sucked and licked… the pleasure building until she felt it almost, almost burst out of her…and then it did and a scream broke free and she broke like a dam against his mouth and fingers, her breath rasping in her throat…

He came back up for air; her juices wet on his lips and chin…his eyes glinting, kneeling next to her and looking just beautiful…

Charlie pulled the bra off and threw it away… somewhere…not taking her eyes from him…

He reached down to his belt and undid the buckle with a click…then his pants seemed to melt away somehow and she heard the sound of a condom wrapper… She watched as he smoothed the thin rubber over a lovely long, thick and heavy cock…her breath coming fast… Then he moved around between her legs, his eyes holding hers the whole time… She lifted her legs and he eased them up over his shoulders… then she felt the head of his cock at her entrance…slick and hard… He moved closer, slowly stretching her out around him…then he gathered himself and pushed home then out, and back again…moving in a steady, strong rhythm…his eyes almost dreamy now… watching her with a little smile playing around his lips as she smiled back at him… moving her hips to welcome him back each time… a slow dance, a slow climb, getting faster as they found the sweetest speeds…

…..

Sometime later, Charlie lay on her stomach, a sheet covering the basics as James threw on a robe and answered the door… She rolled over and sat up, holding the sheet up to cover her breasts, just in case… and smiled as he walked back to the bed with a heavy laden tray…

She reached out for a bread roll…'thank God for room service… I'm starving…'

James picked up another roll, from the basket on the tray, buttering it then piling it high with cold meats and salad from the selection on the platter, passing it to Charlie then doing another for himself… 'I consider room service to be one of the great inventions of our time…'

She grinned through a mouthful… sighing in satisfaction, then she put the roll down, reached across poured them each a glass of wine… she shrugged…'its better sharing it with someone else though… I always get a bit sad eating in a hotel room on my own…'

'Do you travel much…?'

'Not really, mostly in the States, although I did come to Europe a couple of years ago, after I graduated, sort of a Grand tour thing…' she took a sip from her glass… 'How about you? You must get asked to lots of places…'

He nodded…'Publicity tours… Interviews, talks, openings… that sort of thing… I haven't been back to the States for a while now…' he put his roll down… 'Charlotte…?'

She looked at him, curious…'Yes?'

'Cancel your flight, stay with me…please?'

…

Three days later they made it into London, taking a private car on the Euro star just for a change from flying… Charlie had cashed in her earlier flight to London as well as the one back to the States, thankful she'd allowed for a possible change of plans when she booked… She was in a dream, not wanting it to end…

James had booked them an apartment he'd stayed at before in Mayfair and she loved it…it was old and full of character, no lift so they hauled their bags up three flights of stairs, laughing at the quaintness of it all…then falling into bed again, only coming up for air when they needed to re order supplies through the Concierge…

She'd sent emails to her parents just before she and James left Edinburgh, letting them know that she'd met someone, a writer, and that she was having a wonderful time and staying a bit longer in London with him; they were amused… Her mom told her to have a good time, her dad told her to be careful… They didn't ask who he was but she hadn't really expected them to, both of them were pretty involved in their work… She told Danny though… she told Danny everything…

The next day, while James was still asleep and she was in the kitchen getting a drink and checking her emails she found one from her Uncle Miles…and the dream came crashing down, just like falling rain…

…

Coming into O'Hare it was raining, the skies grey and gloomy…which seemed right somehow, fitting… She made it through security and baggage retrieval, moving in a daze of tiredness and bleak despair… trying to pull herself out of it, telling herself that it had only ever been a short term thing… She'd known that from the start… It was just a long one-night stand; that was all it was… But why hadn't he told her?

The fact that his real name was Sebastian Monroe wasn't what had made her leave, whatever problem he and Miles had was nothing to do with her… It was that he hadn't told her… and she felt like a fool…

She found a cab and gave the driver her address, she just wanted to go home and sleep…she'd let everyone know she was home tomorrow, right now she just wanted to be alone…

…..

She'd had a bath…the last traces of him vanishing from her skin and hair as though he'd never been... Her body remembered him though; her belly ached with wanting him, the space inside her where he'd been felt so empty without him in it… Memories of his electric blue eyes haunted her as she dried her hair and caught her own, paler, greenish blue, in the mirror… she sighed…

After the bath she had fallen into bed without unpacking anything…

She woke to a pounding on the door…shit…she rubbed her eyes and rolled out of bed… who the hell? No one knew she was back yet… It was dark and she checked the clock… It was nearly midnight and she'd only been asleep for about six hours…

The pounding came again… she pulled on a robe and went to the door… putting the outside light on and peering through the peep hole…it was still raining and she couldn't see much though. She fixed the security chain and opened the door…

'Hello Charlotte…' he looked tired, drawn and wet, and she wanted to let him in and bury herself in his arms…

'How did you find me, Sebastian?'

'Bass… It's Bass, not Sebastian, my mom used to call me that when I was in trouble…' his lips twisted in a sort of grin… 'Miles sent me an email threatening to shoot me if I came anywhere near you again…' He stood there, in the rain, just letting it fall around him…

'Miles has got nothing to say about it; how did you find me?'

'Your brother Danny's quite a guy… he managed to track down my private email address by himself, after Miles wouldn't give it to him… he told me that Miles had gone ballistic when Danny happened to mention during Uncle Nephew bonding over whisky that you were in London having a wild affair with a writer called James King…'

He came just a little closer 'I'm sorry, Charlotte…' his eyes were steady on hers, even with the rain falling…'I should have told you' he took a deep breath in…'It's just… I'd been James King for so long… I'd almost forgotten who I was really...there was a moment when I was going to tell you but I didn't know how…' he wiped his hands over his eyes, brushing away the raindrops…'I saw your name on the lists for the Book festival and thought I'd go and see what you were doing…' his eyes came back to hers…'I didn't expect…'he swallowed… 'I didn't expect to find someone like you, and when I found you gone I didn't know what had happened; I loved being with you so much and I thought you liked being with me too… I…' he sighed…'Then I got the message from Danny and I caught the next available plane over here…' he shrugged 'I just wanted to explain why and I don't expect you to understand…or forgive me…' he looked down… 'Although I really hope you will…'

Charlie looked at him… at Bass… the name suited him, fitted him… and he'd come all the way over here to say sorry… She melted…

She unlocked the chain…'Miles knows where I live too you know…'

He grinned and came in, dripping all over her carpet… 'It's ok, he couldn't shoot straight to save his life...' he dumped his bag down… 'If he had a sword though, then I might be worried; he was always better than me at fencing. Besides, he's got his own problems…' He came towards her, his eyes warm and that beautiful blue and full of…hope? 'We could always go back to London though - if you wanted…'

She smiled…'We can talk about that later…' she tipped her head 'bathroom's this way, right now I want you to take those wet clothes off…'

He grinned happily…'yes ma'am'

…

AN: Hi there! Thanks for reading, I really hope you liked this… it was one of those stories that sort of wrote itself…shamelessly romantic...and a happy ending (although I think I'd melt too, just quietly) , cheers, Magpie


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